Ongoing battle
by i like being a nerd
Summary: He's back. He's really back. I can't decide whether or not I still love him. It's an ongoing battle... later pairings: SasuSaku, NejiTen, NaruHina, ShikaIno
1. Meeting him again

She walked down the streets, her lengthy pink hair swaying behind her gracefully. Earning the title of best kunoichi in Konoha, she definitely caught the attention of many. Her perfect figure, long legs, soft and luscious hair, and stunning emerald orbs…oh yeah…that was definitely an eye catcher.

_Why would Tsunade-sensei summon me? And I thought I had the day off…_ She thought, stopping in front of her second home, the hokage tower. She was like the daughter of the blonde hokage, even if they were nothing alike. Tsunade took her under her wing the very same year that…Sasuke…left. Oh…how that brought back so many memories. But that was four years ago, and she was 16 now, and as strong as, maybe even stronger than Tsunade. She didn't need these distractions.

_No! Stop it Sakura! Don't think about him! You are a jounin ANBU, and should not be bothered by these things. Oh lord, I'm gonna have to have a talk with Naruto for bringing him up the other day…_ She thought furiously, walking down the long, twisting hallways of the tower. She nodded her head in greeting to the people wandering the hallways, and they did the same. Young boys stopped to gape at her, and she paid no heed to them, continuing on her way.

She came to a stop in front of Tsunade's office. She could hear hushed voices coming from within, and her curiosity grew. "Tsunade-sensei, what was it that you….." She said, slowly opening the door. She stopped dead in her tracks, letting the door swing open when she saw everyone who was in there.

Tsunade sat behind her desk, paperwork scattered all over, as usual. Her blonde hair hung in her brown eyes, and her hands were folded together on top of the desk. There was another person sitting in one of the two normally empty chairs in front of the desk, and two pairs of eyes ended up looking up at her when she entered, instead of the expected one.

Shocked emerald orbs met with emotionless, yet slightly surprised onyx ones. Sakura's eyes roamed over the slightly surprised silhouette of the young man sitting in front of her teacher. He definitely looked familiar, and she definitely knew him. His unusual spiked hair as dark as the midnight sky and those eyes that seemed to captivate you whenever you gazed deeply into them, and his masculine face and body. Oh yeah…she definitely knew that handsome face anywhere.

She couldn't find her voice within her; she could only gape at her former team mate. _Sasuke…he's really back now. Oh, my gosh…I never thought I would see him again. The bastard actually came back._ She thought, not really interested in the fact that he was back, but did not realize that she was in denial.

Sasuke, on the other hand, was completely baffled! But, not in the way that you suspect… "_This_ is your toughest and strongest ANBU?! Not to mention the only one to ever be accepted as an ANBU at only a chunnin rank? You've got to be kidding me!" He ranted, his eyes showing laughter.

Sakura glared at him, and opened her mouth to yell at him. Only, Tsunade beat her to it. "You insolent little brat! How dare you talk of her like that! Sakura was accepted in the ANBU organization when she was only a chunnin, and just recently became a jounin! She is the strongest kunoichi, and probably ninja over all, in Konoha! She has even surpassed me! Do not speak of her like she is lower than a dust particle…!" Sakura was astounded at Tsunade's action, and so was Sasuke. He glared once more at the pink haired girl in the door way, and Sakura's glare rivaled his own.

"Sakura…" Tsunade started. She gestured her hand to the empty seat that was next to the Uchiha prodigy, obviously urging her to sit. Sasuke raised an eyebrow, as if challenging her to actually sit next to him, something most people wouldn't dare to do. Sakura inwardly smirked, and walked over to the wall behind Tsunade's desk, and leaned casually against it. She made her point get across to them with the look on her face, stating that she wouldn't bring herself as low as to sit next to a traitor.

Tsunade shook her head, slightly smirking in amusement. Sakura really was something… although, Tsunade herself wouldn't sit by him if she had the choice, but really, that wasn't her decision at the moment. Sakura glared at Sasuke, and it was as if there was an invisible line of electricity running through there pupils.

"Now, Sakura Haruno, my most trusted ninja, and Sasuke Uchiha, betrayer of Konoha, and former team mate of Sakura…I have a request." She looked at them both, her not exactly warm gaze boring into the two young adults before her. Sakura glanced at her mentor with interest; she didn't usually call her by her full name unless it was a really important mission, or if she was angry at her, which wasn't that often…anymore.

"What?" Sasuke stated blankly, not showing any interest at all. Sakura glared once more at him, this time his gaze met hers, and he was in for a shock. In her eyes, he saw hatred, a hatred that burned for him, and only him. He gulped; he hadn't seen that gleam of hatred in so long. Not since he had killed Itachi.

"Do not speak to my teacher like that. Not unless you want to find yourself pinned against a tree, all your chakra points blocked, bleeding horribly, and pummeled to a point of near death. I have friends you know." She said darkly, threatening him with her words. Tsunade smirked, almost laughing. Yes, Sakura sure had friends all right. Those friends of hers had made a great improvement on her ANBU squad when she accepted their requests to be on Sakura's squad.

Sasuke actually chuckled at this. Her? Have friends? Impossible! Someone like her wouldn't have friends. Never. Sasuke thought that Sakura was still the annoying girl he remembered from their genin days. But oh, was he wrong. Tsunade and Sakura exchanged a small, secret smile that went unnoticed by the Uchiha.

Just then, the door to the hokage's office burst open, eight figures bursting through. Sakura smiled, and looked up to their shocked faces. "Hi Ino, Tenten, Hinata, Naruto, Chouji, Shika, Neji, and Kiba. How are you all today? Sasuke's back…" She said dimly, their expressions growing even more surprised.

"SASUKE-TEME!!!!!!!" Naruto shouted, his cerulean orbs shinning brightly. Sakura didn't know whether the gleam in his eyes was from tears or anger, she couldn't figure it out.

Tsunade smirked at her toughest ANBU squad, folding her hands under her chin in a Sasuke-like manner, but hiding a smile behind her folded fingers. She looked to Sasuke, a mischievous look in her eye. "Sasuke, I would like to introduce you to my strongest ANBU squad, made of the toughest and strongest ninja's in Konoha." She said; a hint of amusement in her smooth voice.

"Who are these people? I only recognize the dobe and pinky. Who are the others?" He said. Sakura glared and started turning red in anger, and her gloved hand formed a fist. But then she reasoned a bit.

Her gaze drifted over each person of her squad. First Ino, they had resolved their issues, becoming best friends once more. Ino had moved on from Sasuke, and taken a liking to Shikamaru, whom she nicknamed Shika. Ino had changed, but not as drastically as some of the others. Her hair had grown to her mid-back, and she usually wore it in a half-up half-down style, preventing her bangs from getting in her way. Her outfit was similar to the one she used to where in their early genin days, the purple ensemble. Except now, it was just a deep purple tank top that ended just below her chest. She wore no bandages around her middle, showing off her physique form. She had a short purple skirt with slits along the side to match the top and black knee-shorts underneath. Yeah, she changed quite a lot.

Next she looked at Ino's current infatuation, Shikamaru. She had given him the nickname Shika around their chunnin exams time, and he didn't like it at first, but then adjusted to it. He had changed as well, but once again not as drastically as to what could have changed about him. His hair was still in that silly pineapple ponytail style, the one that annoyed Ino so much. Only, it had grown longer, and was now an even bigger pineapple. His eyes were lazy, but immediately turned into a serious type when on a mission. He wore his jounin vest, which was optional to them, paired with casual brown slacks that were loose and easy to move in. He was the brain of her squad, helping Ino perfect her mind transfer technique.

"Yes. You know all of these people, but may not recognize quite a few of them. So I'll re-introduce you to all of your former comrades." Tsunade said, smiling. The jounin that filled the compacted space all exchanged interested glances, clearly amused and disturbed by the fact that Sasuke didn't even recognize them in the least.

Tsunade's gaze matched Sakura's current gaze on the brunette standing next to the Hyuuga heiress in the corner by the door. They both noted how Tenten and Hinata had changed; mentally and physically. Tenten had exchanged those childish panda buns for a single ponytail that reached her slender neck. Her outfit was generally the same in color, but the style was a bit different. She wore her same cropped cargos, but her pink Chinese style top had changed from sleeveless to sheer sleeves that belled at the end. Tenten was the weapons mistress of the squad and in all of Konoha.

Hinata was one of the four girls that changed the most. Her purple-ish hair had grown down to the top of her bra line, the two pieces still hanging in front of her ears. Her outfit had changed as well, going from the heavy jacket and blue capris, to a fitted green t-shit with fishnet sleeves, and a pair of cargo pants cropped in the same style as Tenten, but only hers were black instead of the green colored ones Tenten wore. Hinata was usually not recognizable unless you saw her eyes. She was on the same page as Sakura with her precise chakra control.

"We have Hinata Hyuuga, with byakugan ability and chakra control as good as Sakura's. Next, the weapons mistress of the squad, and not to mention all of Konoha, Tenten." The hokage stated, gesturing with her hand to each person mentioned. Hinata nodded her head slightly in greeting, while Tenten gave a small smile and a slight nod.

"Next up," it was Sakura speaking now, all eyes turned to her, except for the Hokage's and the Uchiha's of course. "Is Shikamaru Nara, the sharpest mind, and genius of the squad, and Ino Yamanaka, who has her mind transfer abilities, and pretty good chakra control as well." She said smiling a little at her two friends. They both nodded in greeting to their former comrade.

Next Tsunade looked at the others of her squad, Kiba, Chouji, Neji, and Naruto. She smiled at the now young men, and possible future Hokage. Some of them had had great changes in their abilities, other minor. Some you couldn't even recognize, others look generally the same.

Tsunade spoke now, her eyes glittering with pride all the while. She really did have the strongest Shinobi in all of Konoha gathered in this confined space. "There is Neji Hyuuga, cousin of Hinata Hyuuga, and with the same, only stronger byakugan abilities. Neji also has the strongest 'Rotation' in the entire Hyuuga clan. Now Kiba Inuzuka, his abilities have grown immensely, making him a great addition to the squad." Sakura's eyes looked over the two mentioned, seeing how they had changed to. Both of them had not had major changes, except maybe in their abilities. Neji had only changed his attire to the traditional Hyuuga training attire, while his hair had grown, but was still tied with a white ribbon at the end.

Kiba had changed greatly with his power, and quite a bit with his clothing. He wore the standard Jounin vest, that was as mentioned before, optional; and the blue shirt and pants to match. He still had his strong nose, and his dog-like grin. The markings on his face were later found out, by Naruto, to be permanent and not just make-up as was thought. That was quite an experience for the young Inuzuka.

Now Sakura spoke once more, her voice smooth, and not nervous in the presence of her former team-mates. "Then of course, Chouji, who has his clan ability that has grown stronger." Chouji generally looked the same, only just more mature. "And our former team mate, Naruto Uzumaki, still the number one knuckle head ninja in all of Konoha, but one of the strongest." Naruto gave a giant foxy grin that made both Hinata and Sakura smile widely.

Naruto now wore something much more suitable other than his previous (not to mention hideous) orange jumpsuit, although he still stuck with orange. His strong, masculine body was adorned with a black t-shirt, the necklace that the fifth had entrusted him with, a black and orange jacket, and baggy orange pants.

"And last, but most certainly not least," Tsunade said, looking to her student, and strongest ninja in Konoha. "The squad leader, Sakura Haruno; strongest ninja in Konoha. She has precise chakra control, and is the best medic-nin in the history of the hidden leaf village, surpassing even my own abilities. She is my student, and has grown greatly." She said.

Sakura smirked, and looked up at Sasuke to see his reaction. Oh, was that a sight. It was probably the only time you would ever see the Uchiha so surprised in his life. His eyes were wider than plates, and his mouth agape. He stared at his former team mate in awe. Strongest ninja in Konoha? He wouldn't believe it until he could see it. So, he stated just that.

Everyone looked in shock at him, and then to Sakura. They were surprised not to see her angry, and relieved at the same time. Sakura could be scary when she was angry…Naruto had some not so pleasant experiences with her anger. But, Sakura only smirked at this, she knew all to well what was going through the Uchiha's mind at the moment. He still thought of her as the weak little annoying girl from their genin days. Oh…was he in for a shocker.

Sakura looked him straight in the eye, and said, "You want to see my strength? Spar with me sometime. Then you'll see. I have defeated everyone here, even the Hokage herself. The only people coming close to defeating me are Naruto, and Tsunade-sensei, but that was only a near defeat. They are strong, I will admit. Every one of them is strong, why else would I have them on my squad?" She asked him.

All the people crowded together in the room all stared in shock at the cherry blossom girl. They all knew what could happen is he sparred with her. But then again, no one had seen his strength since his return, not even Tsunade.

Sasuke smirked that sexy smirk of his that made girls melt at his feet. Well, except for the girls in the room, they all had their own crushes. All but Sakura, that is. "I will spar with you then. I want to see your improvement. I want to see if you are stronger than I, I want to know if I have a new rival." He said, his voice never wavering.

Sakura actually smiled at this one. "Very well, we will spar once you agree to join my squad. I know very well that is what Tsunade-sensei requests from me. She cannot decide who joins my squad, only I can. I am the leader." Everyone looked at Tsunade. She sighed, then smiled as she unfolded her fingers that she had done so on her cluttered desk.

"Yes, I have no authority over that subject, but I do request him for your squad, Sakura. He would make a great addition to your squad. Will you let him join?" Tsunade asked her student. Sakura looked at all of her comrades, their interested looks. They too thought he would probably make a great addition, but could have no say in her decision.

Sakura smirked as she looked back at the onyx eyed boy, no nervousness showing in her emerald orbs. She spoke, her voice having a hint of finality, saying he couldn't back out of this one. "Yes, you will join my squad. We will all pair off for training. You will spar with me tomorrow, no questions asked. Everyone else, you may choose your sparring partner. Meet me at the training grounds at five am sharp, do not be late." She said.

Tsunade smiled at her student, along with the others. Only, some of them only smirked. She then handed Sasuke his ANBU uniform, the one they were all to wear from now on. He smirked as he took it into his hands, setting it onto his lap. He looked up to Sakura, already challenging her with his eyes. The only thing in her eyes though, was the urge to fight, to kill.

Fin.

Author's note:

I had fun writing this. This is my first fan fiction, and I would like to say that flames are welcome just as much as praises are. I like criticism; it makes me a better writer. But please do review!

-cat


	2. Sparring with a traitor

Author's note: I forgot to add the disclaimer on the last chapter…

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto!! If I did, Sasuke and Sakura would be together by now. Oh and do not steal my ideas or plot thingy.

Later that night, Sakura sat on her bed, contemplating all that had happened that day. She woke up early, as usual, was training vigorously in her private training grounds, when she had gotten a note attached to a kunai. The note turned out to be the Hokage summoning her. She complied, and met her teacher. Only, she wasn't alone. Sasuke was sitting there, in the office. He had come back. Something she never thought could happen. He was to join her squad. She knew he was strong. His strength may even match hers, and that is definitely saying something.

But, Sakura hated him. She hated him with her heart and soul. He betrayed her beloved village, he betrayed her. He left her when she tried so hard to prevent anything like that from happening. But, she couldn't deny that she knew it was going to happen all along, someday she knew he would leave. Having the sharpest mind on team seven back in her genin days, she knew that he had a thirst for power, and would stop at nothing to get that power. She hated him for that.

She sighed, and let herself fall back on her bed. She stared up at the ceiling, lost in thought. _I promised myself long ago that I would never love him again, and I will keep my promise. I will._ She thought, making a silent vow.

Sakura hoisted herself up off her bed, and stretched her arms up over her head. She walked to a small closet that was next to her big one that held her vast collection of clothes. She opened it, and took out a fresh new fluffy pink towel. She slipped off her standard ninja shoes outside the door of her bathroom, and wet in and shut the door, preparing for her nightly shower.

As she was in the shower, washing her hair with that fragrant shampoo, memories poured into her mind. All of them, unfortunately, from her genin days. And all of them having to do with her former team mate, Sasuke.

_Naruto snickered as he placed the heavily chalk-dusted chalk board eraser above the door. Sakura scowled, and chastised him for trying to pull such an immature prank on their extremely late sensei. _

_Inner Sakura praised him, and even cheered him on while outer Sakura tried to suppress her inner, wilder side. _

_Sasuke sat in a seat, a bit away from the two 'knuckleheads' that were to be his team-mates, not caring in the least. He had his hands folded in front of his mouth, his eyes closed as he tried to get rid of the headache forming between his eyes. _

_Just then, their very late sensei walked through the door, the chalk board eraser plopping right down onto his grey-gravity-defying hair. Naruto and inner Sakura were crying from laughing so hard, while Sasuke, and outer Sakura stayed calm, not caring. Sakura was only trying to impress her crush, which didn't even have an effect on the ice cube boy. _

_Their sensei looked calm, and much like their stoic new team mate. He opened his closed eyes half way, giving him a lazy, Shikamaru-like look. "My first impression; I don't like you guys." He stated simply while Naruto was still laughing. _

Sakura smiled at the memory, now rinsing out the shampoo from her hair, rubbing her fingers against her scalp. She grabbed the conditioner bottle and squeezed some of its content onto her wet hand. As she moved on to condition her hair, another memory came into her mind.

_The crystal ice mirrors shattered, pieces flying everywhere. Sakura's emerald orbs were wide, staring at the kyuubi-charged Naruto. Red strings of chakra were whirling around his orange and blue clad body, his nails grown into claws, and his eyes turned red with black slits for pupils. _

_Sakura had to admit, she was scared. She tried to stay calm, not to worry, and have faith in them. She couldn't even see Sasuke now, so she obviously had to resort to another method to keep her worry inside. She bit her lip in frustration. Where was her other team mate? _

_Right then, she saw a blue and while heap lying near the now smoke cleared Naruto. 'Sasuke…!' She screamed in her mind. No words came out of her mouth as said person came flying toward her, senbon sticking out from all over his body. _

_Sakura dropped down to her knees next to him, Tazuna still standing behind her. "Go ahead and let it all out." He said. Sakura obeyed, and fell onto her crush's chest, balling her eyes out. She leaned up a little to look at his face, contorted into a pained expression. _

"_I always answered every question on the ninja academy exams. On one of them, it asked the question, '**What is Shinobi rule #25?'** I answered it right, just as I was supposed to. **'Shinobi rule #25: A ninja should never show emotion.'**" Sakura broke down crying all over again, leaning back down onto her thought to be dead team mate. _

_She then heard the faint, strained voice, "S-Sakura…y-you're heavy." _

Sakura's smile faltered then. She had really believed Sasuke was dead back then. Now, she really wished he was. But, she wouldn't go as far as to kill him during tomorrow's spar, just merely wound him…badly. Screw that. She wanted to Make. Him. Suffer. She wouldn't stop until she got her revenge on him for leaving her. She wanted to pummel him to where he bleeding horribly, to where he could die if she chose not to heal him. She wanted him to suffer big time.

She smirked, and stepped out of the shower, grabbing the fluffy pink towel, and wrapping it around her frail body. If you looked at her reflection in the mirror that was across from her, it would be impossible not to catch the evil gleam in her eye.

After throwing on a pair of pink short shorts and a black tank top, she climbed into her bed, letting her pink sheets settle over her tired body. Wow…she had a lot of pink in her bedroom.

Sakura awoke to the music of her alarm clock. She lazily opened her eyes, and rolled them toward her right, where her alarm clock was sitting on her desk. 4:00am was what it read. Now some people would think the pink haired girl was insane, getting up at 4am. But hey, she was a ninja, and she had training in an hour, not to mention a special sparring match.

She heaved a sigh, and pushed down the warm covers, sliding out of bed, and sliding her feet into her fuzzy pink bunny slippers (again with the pink!). She grabbed her light pink (…) robe from her desk chair, and slipped onto her slender form, tying the knot by her flat stomach.

She trudged over to the closed door, and opened it, walking into the hallway. She walked down the hallway to her spotless kitchen, and filled her tea kettle with water, setting it on to stove burner. Yeah, she liked hot tea…so what? She yawned, covering her wide open mouth with her hand, before sliding a chair out from the dining table, and sitting down, waiting for her kettle to boil.

She rested her head on her arms while waiting. Wow, she must have really worked her body to the limit yesterday. Otherwise, she wouldn't be _this_ tired in the mornings. Usually, she was a morning person, more awake than during any other time of day. It was odd to see her tired in the mornings.

She was brought out of her revere when she heard the growing whistle of the kettle. She stood up from the table, and walked over to turn the burner off. She got a large mug that said 'being a ninja has its perks…you get free stuff' on the front of it. She got a table spoon out of the drawer, and poured two spoons of sugar into the mug, and one spoon of tea. She poured water into it, and stirred. She watched the clumps of tea swirl around at the surface of the hot water, slowly dissolving. There was a single circle of small bubbles that had joined together, and three clumps of tea in three separate places on the bubble circle. It looked familiar.

An image flashed through her mind at the moment. It was an eye, with a black ring and three comma shaped marks circling the black ring around the pupil. The background of the eyeball was red. She recognized that eye…the Sharingan. Crap.

The spoon dropped into the hot tea, splashing some hot water onto her hand. A small gasp emitted from her full lips as the hot water droplets slid down her hand, leaving a hot feeling on its trail. She cursed under her breath and grabbed a kitchen towel, whipping her hand off. It was only hot water, nothing major like a fire burn. That was a relief…

Sakura set down the towel, and picked up her steaming mug. She sat back down at the table, still a little shaken from the image that had just flashed through her mind. She sipped the refreshing beverage, letting the warm liquid slide down her parched throat. It woke her tired body up slowly.

By the time she was done with the hot tea, it was 4:15am. She wanted to be ready by 4:30 or 4:45 do she could get some individual training in. She put her now empty mug into the dishwasher, and walked back to her bedroom.

She walked over to her closet to get her outfit for the day. She chose to wear her ANBU uniform today. Usually, she wore an outfit of her choice, and wears her uniform on missions. She picked up her cat mask from her desk, and slipped it on. She tied her long hair up into a high pony tail, as not to get in the way during training…and sparing. She tied her headband on her head just like she had worn it in her genin days, and she still does wear it like that.

She slipped her black gloves onto her small, feminine hands, and put her ninja shoes on. Lastly Sakura put her weapons pouch around her hip, along with her Kunai holster on her thigh. She looked herself over in the mirror in the bathroom before smirking in satisfaction. Hey, a girl has to look presentable…right? But that didn't take much effort for the rose haired kunoichi.

She walked to her front door, and opened it, stepping out into the apartment complex hallway. She walked down the hallway after shutting and locking her door, and walked outside into the cool morning air that was slowly warming up.

It was probably about 4:30am now, and most of her other comrades were probably just waking up. Well…maybe not Ino. She probably woke up earlier than Sakura did, just to straighten her long blonde locks (she was naturally curly haired) to impress her new crush, Shika.

She walked down the street, not going to fast or to slow, but at a steady pace. She made it to the outskirts of Konoha, where the vast forest was. She walked to her usual training grounds, which was where all the trees were either knocked down, or half buried in the soil…courtesy of Sakura and her 'inhuman strength'.

She gazed around at her favorite training sight. It was pretty big, probably as big as the Uchiha and Hyuuga grounds combined. Now that was big. There were targets painted onto trees in one area of the training field, and a circle shaped indention in the soil that became permanent from Neji's Kaiten (sp?). There were also a lot of dents in the ground from where weapons had obviously tortured the poor soft soil. Does that say anything to you? It practically screamed 'Tenten the weapons mistress has been here. Fear her'. Sakura smirked behind her mask, and walked over to her favorite part of the training grounds, the sparring area.

There she practiced her genjutsu, and ninjutsu. And a little bit of taijutsu that she had learned from Lee, who was on a mission with Shino and Gai at the moment. She decided not to use her 'inhuman strength' at the moment and destroy the whole area; she would wait until Sasuke and her sparred.

Soon enough, all of the others had arrived, except for Chouji and Kiba who had gone to assist on the mission the others were on. So it was only Neji, Naruto, Hinata, Tenten, Ino, and Shikamaru who showed up. But, Sakura noticed, no Sasuke. Had he ditched? Damn. She was looking forward to sparring with him. Now she was angry…she let him join her squad, even offered to spar with him, and he's late, maybe even ditching. She let out a frustrated sigh.

"So where is Uchiha?" Neji asked, raising an eyebrow at the seething Sakura. She glared at him, her eyes saying 'Can't you see that? He's not here you idiot!' Seriously, only Sakura and Tenten could say that to him and not get the famous byakugan glare. Well…technically she wasn't _saying_ it, but you get the point.

"He's not here idiot. And I thought you were a genius…" Tenten spoke up from her position next to him. See what I mean? He only glanced at her, a hint of embarrassment in his eyes. Now only Tenten could make him feel embarrassed.

Just then, they heard a sound that resembled one of a stampede of elephants. All of then took a stance, ready to fight if necessary. But, it turned out that wouldn't be needed, for it was Sasuke who had come running toward their training grounds, and it was Sasuke who was being chased by a horde of fan girls, and it was Sasuke who ran strait into a completely bewildered Sakura, landing on top of her in a very awkward position, knocking her ANBU cat mask off in the process.

The stampede of fan girls halted when they witnessed what had just happened. Many had looks of shock on their face, some even had angry expressions. Neji, Tenten, Naruto, Hinata, Shika, and Ino all looked at the blushing duo, with their faces so close that their noses were almost touching. Sakura's eyes were wide with shock, not yet to the anger stage, and Sasuke just lay there, surprisingly not wanted to get up. Mainly because being in this position with his former team mate had stopped his fan girls from glomping him.

Then Naruto burst out laughing, tears streaming down his face, and clutching his abdominal. It was now when pure anger flashed through the blushing kunoichi that lay underneath Sasuke. She furrowed her brow, and narrowed her eyes. Thrusting her gloved hands against his rock hard chest, that she just noticed, she shoved him off of her. He flopped ungracefully next to her on his back from the force.

His fan girls all started to shout, their rage being expressed toward Sakura. She tried to suppress the urge to just kill them all right then and there as she heard them calling her rude names such as 'slut!' and 'whore!' and 'dirtbag!' That had been the last straw. With speed that no human eye could follow, she reached into her kunai holster, pulled one out, and aimed it directly above their heads to a tree that was behind them.

As the kunai whizzed by their heads, it ruffled their hair and their eyes widened. They all stared in shock at the pink haired girl, no one daring to speak a word. But, Sakura did. Only two words came out of her pursed lips. "Get. Lost." She said through gritted teeth. Now there was another stampede, but this one heading away from them all.

Sakura stood and glared at the raven haired boy who now stood in front of her. "Great. Now they all know where my private training grounds are! Thanks a lot Mr. I-think-I'm-so-cool-that-I'll-totally-ram-into-my-former-team-mate-and-make-her-fall-to-the-ground-without-even-caring!" they all stared at her in amusement, some even trying to hide their giggles. They all shut up when they got Sakura's fury glare.

She sighed and looked at everyone's chosen training attire. Hey, she had to make sure they were able to train properly right? No one can train in a flimsy skirt and a to-tight-tank top. Most of them wore their ANBU uniforms, except for Ino and Hinata who wore what she had seen them in the day before. Her eyes landed on Sasuke. He actually didn't look half bad in the ANBU uniform. Sasuke caught her looking him over and smirked.

"See something you like?" he said cockily. Sakura glared and looked away from him. But Ino and Hinata were over where she had redirected her gaze, and they saw her pink tinted cheeks. They exchanged a glance, and smirked at one another.

"You wish." Sakura stated bluntly. The others chuckled at the Uchiha's reaction. Sakura then looked back up at them once she regained control over the blush that had taken her face over. She looked at them all before giving them orders. "We will pair off in two's. I am sparring with Sasuke in the first sparring section, so do not interfere unless you wish to be wounded badly. You may pair off with whomever you wish, but stay as far away as possible from my spar. Go." With that one last word, they each paired off.

Neji went with Tenten to the second sparring area. Shika went with Ino to the target practice area, and Naruto and Hinata went over to the third sparring area. Sakura picked up her cat mask, replaced it, and walked over to the first sparring area, Sasuke following close behind. It was the area that hadn't been touched since she got permission from the hokage to use this area as her private training grounds, so it was fresh and the soil was ready to soak in blood.

Sakura stopped in the center of the large circular area, and turned to face her challenger. Maybe by the end of this spar, he might become her permanent sparring partner. But that all depended on how talented she thought he was. Sakura smirked, and folded her arms casually, as if waiting for him to do something.

Sasuke didn't like this too much. She was mocking him! He had acted just like that back in his genin days. He couldn't believe it; she was mocking him, trying to make him feel stupid. And the worst part of it was - it was working. It enraged him, really. He was a male; he was supposed to be dominant! Not females. No, never. He would never let a _girl_ beat him.

They both simultaneously thought one thing. _Let the spar begin!_

Seeing as the pink haired ANBU was just standing there, Sasuke took the opportunity to test her. He reached into his Kunai holster, pulled one out, and threw it, aiming for the pressure point right by her shoulder. He thought that she wouldn't be able to catch it, or dodge it. He _still_ thought she was weak. Sakura knew this.

She definitely surprised him when she simply reached up her left hand, and caught the Kunai between her forefinger and middle finger. He raised his eyebrows, not out of shock, but out of interest. He was now interested in her growing strength, even though he still thought she was weak. But she could never catch a Kunai in her genin days.

Sakura threw back the Kunai, as if saying _'C'mon! You have got to be kidding me. Give something better than that!' _while she took on a fighting position. Sasuke caught the Kunai, and took the chance of running at her. Ooh…bad mistake Sasuke. Sakura smirked behind her mask. Sasuke hadn't got his mask yet, and may never get one. The ANBU mask was like a passing trophy, you could only get one when you sparred with the ANBU captain, and they approved. Sakura didn't plan on him earning his mask today.

Sasuke ran at her, and jumped up right before he reached her, landing behind her intending to thrust the metal weapon into her spine. Only, when he thrust the Kunai forward, there was nothing there to thrust it into. _She was gone._ He felt the wind knocked out of him suddenly, and realized he had been kicked from behind at a pressure point. He fell to the ground, sliding in the dirt. He turned his head and saw his former team mate standing there, not a scratch on her beautiful body.

Wait. Scratch that. He said WHAT? _Beautiful body? Since when had she had a _BEAUTIFUL BODY!!!!!! Back on track Sasuke, your hormones shouldn't be getting in the way right now…….

He hopped up and turned to face her. He smirked at her, and could almost _feel_ her harsh glare through that feline mask. She bent her knees, and jumped up using chakra powered legs. She was hiding in the trees now, concealing her chakra so he wouldn't find her. But she knew he was better than that.

Sasuke was trying to conserve chakra by _not_ using his Sharingan. But now he had no choice. He couldn't sense her chakra anywhere, and couldn't see her all the way up in those dense trees. Sakura looked down to see the very eye that had flashed through her mind this morning while making her hot tea…the Sharingan.

He spotted her, and thought he would deceive her by acting like he still couldn't see her, and move in the opposite direction, and circle around to be behind her. So he did just that. But he didn't know that his former pink haired team mate knew him so well. She knew his tricks, his moves, and his fighting style. That was his fighting style. He liked to test you first, and then go head on, and then try to deceive you. It wouldn't work on Sakura.

As soon as she saw him take a step back, she hopped down from her hiding place, landing gracefully on her feet. Hey, it was a feline thing. He didn't expect her to do that, and definitely didn't expect her to do what she did next,

Sakura gathered the maximum amount of chakra in her fist, and punched the rocky ground without much effort, creating an earthquake-like effect. Sasuke stumbled, rocking back and forth on his unstable feet. The other people all stopped when they felt the earth shaking, and all looked towards Sakura. Naruto suggested they watch the match, and so they did just that.

Sakura almost laughed at the Uchiha's startled expression, but kept her mind on the battle. This was her turf, she knew every rock, pebble, and tree in this sparring area, and would use it to her advantage. She jumped back up into the trees before he could regain his balance. He noticed this though with his Sharingan.

_Crap. _Sakura thought when she saw the raven haired boy jump up into the trees after her. He began to chase after her, analyzing her every move with his eyes. He knew her way as well. Well…at least he thought he did. He was quite surprised at her strength now; as opposed to how weak she was back in the day. But he still thought she was weak.

They both landed on the ground near where the others were watching there little spar. They stared at each other for a moment when Sasuke smirked. "Che…weak. Still weaker than ever." He said. Ooh….now Sakura was angry. The people watching raised there eyebrows. They all knew never, NEVER call Sakura weak.

Sakura had had it with him. She couldn't take it. She couldn't hold it all in anymore, she had to let her anger free on something didn't she? So she chose one lonesome traitor that stood before her. Oh, was he in for it.

"Do NOT call me weak!!!" She yelled with rage outlining her voice in a way that she had never done before. She charged at him, fist raised. He ducked at the last moment, and her fist hit the tree behind him. Too bad it was a chakra powered punch, and it made the whole line of trees behind the one she punched fall down along with it. Sasuke's eyes widened for a split second, the split second that Naruto and Neji didn't miss. They knew he thought she wasn't weak, but the complete opposite.

But that split second ended and his face was contorted back into mockery. He laughed, actually _laughed_ at her, and said, "Yeah right. You are weak. Get over it. I am stronger than you. You have no idea what I have been through!" He said with bitterness. He only angered the kunoichi more.

"You aren't stronger than me! You aren't! And you think I don't know what you have been through Sasuke? You have no idea how similar we really are!" She shocked him by saying that, and he halted. Unfortunately, his mistake of stopping had landed him a punch from a very angry Sakura. His brows furrowed in anger now, as he retorted with a similar comment.

"You and I similar? Not possible! You have parents! You have a family! I don't!" He yelled with rage spilling over his words. Naruto and the others knew the mistake he just made might just cost him his life, but hoped she would spare him.

Sakura almost laughed at his stupidity, but restrained herself. She launched at him, continuing their battle, throwing punches and kicks, some landing their target and some landing on her. "You think I don't know what you have been through?" She repeated. "I have no parents! I have no family! I watched them all die just as you did! I watched my mom, my dad, and my little sister get slaughtered by that snake of a teacher of yours right before my very own eyes! Do not tell me that I don't know what you have been through!" She was panting now. Sasuke was actually a pretty tough opponent.

Sasuke was shocked. Orichimaru killed her family? But, this time…no one lived. No one but her. "He…he killed your family?" he asked softly, almost unheard by the pink cherry blossom. They both stopped; Sakura's fist in mid-punch, Sasuke standing, getting ready to block her attack.

"Oh, like you didn't know? You were his student after all! You probably told him to spare me, so that you could watch me suffer! So that you could watch me suffer the same pain you had to go through! I lost the ones I love, Sasuke! And I'll never see them again!!" With that last line, she punched him square in the face, and he didn't even try to block it.

He fell back on his behind hardly, and looked up at her. "I didn't even know. I had no clue." He said dimly. "Why did he spare you?" he asked, really wanting to know now. Why _had_ he spared her? Did he really want her to suffer? Or had he just felt like killing someone, so he chose his former team mate's family? Did he want revenge against Tsunade, so he targeted her pupil? He just _didn't understand!_

Sakura was tired, Sasuke had really worked her. She saw him as an equal in strength, and she knew he saw a big change in her. Even if she hadn't even gotten to show a tenth of her power…bummer. Oh well, might as well get some rest to refuel my chakra. With that, the last thing she saw was her team mates rushing up to her as her eyes met darkness, and she felt her body hit the hard, rocky ground before completely losing herself in the unconscious world of her mind.

Author's note: I really enjoyed writing this chapter, even though I thought the fight and the ending totally sucked. I might rewrite it some other time. Let me know what you guys think, because I am not too satisfied with it. R & R!!


	3. A revealing talk

Author's note: I hope ya'll like this chappie!

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Her head ached, her body was sore, and she had little strength. Images of memory flashed through her mind, depicting the fierce, revealing spar that had just ended. But had it just ended? It could have been days, weeks even from when it ended. Sakura didn't know, but from the way she felt, she decided that it ended only hours ago.

She felt warm, and comfortable. The place she was in, wherever that would be, gave off a familiar atmosphere. She knew this place, but just couldn't pin point it in her exhausted mind. She was covered by something, something heavy and warm. She was laying on something as well, something soft, and comfortable.

With the little strength she had, she opened her eyelids to the point where she could see, if only just a little bit. Her emerald orbs saw white. Only white. She tried turning her head a little, and succeeded with a bit of pain in her neck as her prize. She didn't mind. For her, pain was nature. Pain was necessary.

As she turned her head, her eyes opened a little more, her strength slowly returning to her. She saw that she was in a fairly large room, and saw the bed side table next to her, right underneath the large window from which golden rays of sunlight flooded through, illuminating the room.

As her eyes roamed a bit more, she recognized the place she was in, and why it seemed so familiar. _The hospital._ She though in realization. She inwardly scolded herself for not recognizing this place sooner. I mean, come on! She worked here for Kami's sake! There was only one place she hadn't looked yet, to her left, on the other side of the room.

She slowly turned her head that way, her eyes cast downward, towards the floor. Her eyes met more white…another bed. She was in a two-person room. So, that meant someone else was in the room with her, judging by the ruffled sheets on the other bed. Her eyes traveled upward, slowly revealing the person who was her roommate.

Sakura's eyes viewed toned arms, connected to two hands that held the edges of a magazine. This person did not wear the standard hospital clothing that all patients did, but instead, a black shirt and pants. It looked very similar to the clothes that all ANBU wore underneath there white protection vest. In fact, if she wasn't so delirious at the moment, she would believe that another ANBU was in the room with her!

Her eyes traveled farther upward, grazing over this person's tan skin, with light stubble around the chin area. Full, closed lips were right above that light stubble, and a slightly large nose positioned in the center of this person's face. By the stubble, she came to a conclusion that the person was indeed a man. Well…she hoped it was a man. If a woman had stubble…that would just be disturbing. She saw spiky, black hair that clearly defied the laws of gravity, and slightly resembled a chicken. Wait…she knew someone with chicken-hair. But who?

Her emerald orbs finally went up as far as they could in her observing of this mystery person. Sakura's jade orbs met the relaxed onyx orbs of none other than Sasuke Uchiha. Yeah, she had just realized that she was sharing a hospital room with the person who had just sparred with her. But wait…relaxed? Uchiha Sasuke was never relaxed, or he shouldn't be at least. He should always be alert, those stoic eyes sharpening at any movement. But he wasn't. He was _relaxed._ But hey, there was a first for everything right?

"I see your finally awake Pinky. About time, I was beginning to wonder if you were dead or something." Oh, so now he had _humor?_ Oh, the world had many surprises. But then, being the slow person that Sakura is, she noticed that he had just called her by the nickname that she hated o-so-much. She glared.

"Yes I am awake. But what I want to know is why I'm sharing a hospital room with you?" She said coldly, rivaling the Uchiha's own icy voice. He looked back at her with the same coldness he had so long ago, back in their genin days. That was a bit of a shocker for the cherry blossom. But she didn't show it. She wasn't a ninja for nothing. Ninja's don't show emotion. Period.

"That, I myself do not know. But I think it was just for convenience, so they wouldn't have to waste another room." He said, observing her. She had only slight wounds, but there was the large gash that his senbon had made in her left shoulder. Her black long sleeved shirt was torn there, and bandages were wrapped around the area.

Sakura glared once more at him, and then she too noticed her wound. _Wouldn't they have healed that while I was asleep?_ She asked herself. Little did she know, she had unconsciously said that out loud. So, naturally, the cold, stoic man that was unfortunately her roommate, answered that question for her.

"The medic-nin that was in here earlier said that they would come back when you were awake, so that their healing chakra would mix with yours, making the healing job much more efficient. I take it that you are respected around here." He said. She was surprised at the last part though. But, he was right.

"Yes, I am respected around here. I mainly help Tsunade-sensei, since there are sometimes when two medic-nins are needed to double the chakra power, instead of the one, which would most likely not be enough if it were a fatal wound. But only Tsunade and I have that power." She said knowingly. "But one thing I don't understand is why they wanted to wait to heal me. Now it's just a waste of time, I can heal myself." She said. Her gaze traveled to the bandages wrapped around her wound.

Sasuke stared at her. "You're stupid, you know that? Your chakra probably has not revived itself, and you cannot heal without it." He said. But how could he know? Sakura knew that he suffered of chakra depletion as well, and could not use his bloodline trait to back up his theory of her not having any chakra.

She smirked at him. This surprised him a bit, but his face remained passive. "My chakra can return faster than any other person known in this world. Faster than Tsunade's even. That is why I say it was a waste of time, because everyone here knows that." He watched her as her hand moved up, and removed the bandages securing the wound, and dropped them to the ground.

Her hands immediately illuminated with green healing chakra, and she closed her eyes in concentration. Then her eyes shot open, and she glared fiercely at her roommate. "You idiot! That senbon was poisoned! Now I have to waste even more chakra on removing the poison. And since no one bothered to do it before, I have to directly remove the poison myself! Do you have any idea how much chakra that will waste?" She said angrily at him.

Sasuke was shocked. How could she, the person whom he hadn't seen her healing abilities yet, mind you, remove poison directly? But, she _was_ the pupil of the hokage. So, you never know. He watched her in awe as she went to work.

Sakura closed her eyes in deep concentration, then opened them, her brow furrowed, and obvious sign of 'do not disturb the medic-nin while she is removing poison.' She channeled her chakra to weave through her chakra points, using her hands. Her green chakra surrounded her should completely, then it contracted until it was no longer visible. Her chakra was _inside her shoulder, and she was still controlling it. _She moved her hands, and the chakra came back out of her shoulder, but then went right back in, and out the other side. She did this a few times, and Sasuke noticed the tiny speck of black, that grew into a decent sized blob. He realized, just as she was about done, that _that_ was the poison. She really was the best medic-nin. He had never seen that in his life.

Once she was done, she held in her hand, surrounded by green chakra, the poison. Sasuke stared at her in awe. Sakura inwardly smirked at his reaction. Hey, she wasn't named best kunoichi in Konoha for nothing. She closed her chakra tighter and tighter around the poison, until it completely disintegrated.

Now she had to heal the gaping wound that was now bleeding again. She raised her hand one last time, and let her healing chakra slowly close the cut skin. Once she was fully done, she had lost a great amount of chakra, and needed to revive herself. She would have to stay there for a while longer.

Sasuke's eyes stared at the flawless skin at her shoulder, completely amazed. He noticed her fatigue, and decided to at least try to strike a conversation. It was dully boring in the room, and he got tired of reading the same magazine over and over. "How long have you been an ANBU?" He asked out of curiosity. Really, he really was curious.

Sakura leered at him warily, not completely herself. "Why do you want to know?" She asked. Sasuke smirked and observed her tired state. He could take advantage of this, and get information on her past. He was curious. He was curious as to her ANBU history, and as to her past, when his former teacher had killed her family. He truly hadn't known anything of that.

"Curiosity." He said blankly. She obliged, and told him.

"About a year and a half." She said. Sasuke's eyes widened in shock. _A year and a half? That means…_

"That means that you became a chunnin when you were only fifteen! You just became a jounin, and your sixteen, right?" he asked, bewildered. Sakura smirked. He had gotten the ages mixed up.

"Your right, I did become a jounin at sixteen. But I only just turned sixteen. I became a chunnin at fourteen. I was the youngest. Neji, Tenten, and Lee became Chunnin at the same time I did, which is why we are very close now." She stated in a soft voice.

"Wow. Another question, do you have the ANBU tattoo? I haven't seen it yet. I saw it on the others, but not on you yet." Sakura thought that was a strange question. Then it hit her, he didn't believe she really was an ANBU. He thought it was just a hoax. Actually, Sasuke really didn't believe her. But, another excuse was just so he could see how the tattoo looked on her.

"Very well." She said in a very Kakashi-like manner. She reached up, and just tore her sleeve off. She had more at home… Sasuke's eyes landed on the swirls that made up the ANBU tattoo. Wow…she really was an ANBU. And that tattoo looked good on her. It fit her…surprisingly.

Sakura smirked. Yeah, look all you want Sasuke, it's _real_. "So you _are_ an ANBU. For a while there, I thought that you had cast a genjutsu or something. So your mask is the cat? Why?" So he knew that an ANBU's mask matched the ANBU's personality.

"I am the cat for my skills. I am flexible, and I have the precise moves of a cat." She said. She smirked a little, she was proud of her mask. Her eyes drifted to next to her, where her mask lay on the bedside table.

"What are the others?" She heard Sasuke ask. She looked back at him, and continued onward.

"Tenten is the panda, for she looks innocent, but has a fierce side. Lee is the cheetah, he has speed and stealth. Neji is the bear; he has what looks like a frail body, but can really pack a punch." _And he can be extra cuddly when he wants to be, especially when it come to a certain panda girl. _She added in her mind. "Naruto is the fox, for obvious reasons, and Kiba is the dog, also for obvious reasons; the same with Shino being the fly. Hinata is the Koala bear, she is small and innocent, but has a strong mind." Sasuke could tell she was tired, and almost out of breath.

"You can stop. I'll see what the others are some other time. Tell me, when was it that Orochimaru killed your family?" he asked. He knew that she probably wouldn't answer, and he was right. Partly…

"You don't need to know." She said bitterly. But this was part of Sasuke's plan. He had been stalling to revive his chakra; just enough to turn his Sharingan on; which is what he did, when her eyes took on a far away look. He peered into her mind, looking at her memories.

_Sakura walked home, tired from training. Tsunade had worked her hard…real hard. She was growing stronger. That was all that mattered. She was almost to her street, but felt something was amiss. It was too quiet on her street tonight. _

_She came to her front door, and noticed that no lights were on. That was strange, her mother and father almost always had the living room light on. She took out her house key, and unlocked the door, stepping inside. _

_The smell of blood hit her tender sense of smell, and she panicked. She quickly flipped the lights on, and screamed at what she saw._

_Her scream could be heard over all of Konoha, and people came running. First was Naruto, who was shocked at what he saw. He pulled her into a hug, but she pushed away. She went over to the center of the living room, which was where her shock lay. _

_She stroked the hair of her dead mother, who lay in a heap on top of her father. Her little sister was next to them, lying on the floor, nothing but death showing in her eyes. _

_She felt arms wrap around her again, but this time it was Kakashi, her beloved sensei. She turned to look at him, and buried her head in his chest. He was like a second father to her, and now would be her only father figure. _

_Naruto came up to them, and joined in hugging her. She was comforted by two of the men in her life. She sensed a lot more chakras at her front door, and lifted her head to see who all was here. _

_She saw everyone. Ino, who was crying on Shikamaru's shoulder, who stared in shock at the carnage in his friend's living room. There was Neji, who had sympathy in his eyes, and was comforting a crying Tenten. Lee stood by them, and then walked up to comfort his friend. Sakura's eyes were filled with tears and she couldn't stop them. _

"_Uuh…Sakura?" Someone said. She looked and saw Hinata and her team. Kiba was the one who spoke. He was standing by her parents and little sister, looking at something next to her sister's head. Chouji was over there, too. _

_She got up, and came over to see what he was looking at. Kakashi and Naruto followed her, along with everyone else. She collapsed on her knees at what she saw. Her eyes filled with anger, and more tears. _

_Next to her sister's head, written in blood, was the sound symbol. People gasped, and then they were parted by a worried Tsunade. Sakura had begun her training with her new sensei a few months ago. Tsunade saw what was there, and her brow furrowed in anger. The others backed away, except for Kakashi and Naruto of course. _

_Sakura knew who did this. And she wanted revenge. "Orochimaru." She said bitterly. Another voice had joined hers, and she looked up to see her teacher, Tsunade. Tsunade bent down, and hugged her pupil. _

_Sakura only thought one thing and Kakashi lifted her up in his arms, and began to walk towards the Hokage tower with Tsunade leading the way. **I will get my revenge. **Then all she saw was black. _

Sasuke stumbled a little on his words when he spoke next. "W-Wow. I-I never knew…b-but…I can't b-believe…" He stuttered. Sakura came out of her revere and stared at her team mate with anger. She was angry at him for being that snake's student, for leaving. She wanted to get out of this hospital room. She couldn't stand the fact that he had pried into her memories.

"I'm leaving." She said. She shoved the covers off, thankful that her chakra was back. She could easily get out now.

She got up, and walked over to the window, but not before securing her ANBU mask back on, and slipping her white protection vest back on. Sasuke stopped her with a few words right as she opened the window.

"Wait! Aren't you going to heal me?" He asked, trying to persuade her. He knew it would work. But it was worth a try at least.

Sakura looked at the wound on his stomach that she had given him when she had thrust a Kunai through it. She smirked. "Che…no." She said with no emotion whatsoever. With those last words, she hopped out the window, landing on her feat with the grace of a cat, and ran off, leaving a bewildered and stunned Sasuke.

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I wasn't too satisfied with it. The next one will be better and longer. i promise. Review if you want. Flame if you want. i don't care. reviews are good, but flames are better. I learn from them. 


	4. Healing

Yay! sorry it took so long to update, but yeah...school can't be helped. but i have a new story! ya'll read and tell me what you think! i'll update on that one soon if i can as well. enoy this next chappie!

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"Did she heal herself and leave you here?" Tsunade asked the restless Uchiha that still lay in the hospital bed. It had been about an hour since Sakura left him there, and about five minutes since the fifth had walked in with an annoying smirk on her face. She knew what Sakura would do. Sakura _was_ like her own daughter, and she knew the girl better than anyone. Well, other than Naruto and Kakashi…and maybe Sasuke. But that was unlikely.

"Yeah." Sasuke grunted to the blonde lady in reply. _Stupid girl. Just HAD to leave me here. I should've known that was what she would've done. I was on her team! But…she has changed. A lot. In many ways. She's stronger (obviously), more independent (duh), she's even colder than she used to be. And she HAS matured (Hell Yeah!). A lot. _Sasuke thought. He felt his face start to heat up, but suppressed it as soon as it came.

"I knew she would do that, and I would think that you would suspect her to do the same. You _were_ on her old team, and now on her _new_ team. She _is_ the captain, so you must follow the orders of either her, or the co-captain." Tsunade said as a-matter-of-factly. Then it just hit him.

"I'm on her squad? I didn't think I would! We both fainted after that spar. And she fainted first, and then I did. I didn't think she would let me on her squad though, not after that. But I will admit this fact: she has definitely grown stronger." He said to the hokage, disbelief etched all over his masculine features.

Tsunade smirked. "Yes, you are now on her squad. She will hand over your mask tomorrow, the mask being a prize-like object. It proves that she thinks you're worthy. Oh, and one more thing," Tsunade said, about to walk out of the room. "That wasn't her full power. It wasn't even a fourth of it. She was already tired from the training I had given her _the day before_. She had also trained on her own a bit. So that took even more out of her. I'm still surprised she did so well. You did well, too. I was watching from my tower. Get well soon, maybe she'll heal you tomorrow. She has to work tomorrow." Tsunade stated before taking her leave.

Sasuke was stunned. Not even a fourth of her true power? Then what _was_ her true power? Oh lord, he was in for it. He was curious as well, now. What was her true power? He wanted to know. Maybe Sakura was more of a kunoichi than he thought. Maybe she was more than a kunoichi than anyone. He wanted to find out. He knew what he would have to do. He would have to spy on her training with Tsunade. He would go to all extents to see her true power.

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Sakura tied her hair up almost as soon as she landed outside of the hospital. But first, she had to duck out of view from the Hokage, who was heading her way. She ducked behind the wall, and watched her mentor walk into the building. _That…was close._ She thought, while tying her hair up into a high ponytail. Although, Tsunade had probably known she was there anyways. She _was_ the Hokage.

Sakura came out from her hiding place, and secured her mask. She began walking back into town, for her apartment was on the other side. People stared at her, some in awe, and some in fear. It wasn't everyday that an ANBU would be walking in the middle of the busy street in the middle of the afternoon. People knew ANBU were strong, which gave many reasons to like them, and fear them. Sakura ignored all this, and continued on her way.

_Why did he have to pry into my memories like that? I didn't want him to know exactly HOW my parents died. I didn't even want him to see that. So why did he do it?_ Sakura was confused. Why _did_ the Uchiha pry into her thoughts and memories, and watch the scene of her parent's death. She knew it was Orochimaru, and now she wanted revenge. Just as Sasuke had wanted revenge on his brother. She wondered if he had killed his brother.

How had he gotten away? How had he even gotten into the village? He must have gone straight to the Hokage tower, so no one would know that he had come back. But the news would spread quickly with her loudmouth teammate, Naruto. Oh yeah, it wouldn't stay a secret for long. But still, she wanted to know more.

It was odd how he just suddenly showed up out of nowhere. He didn't have any wounds on him when she first saw him, but during their spar, she gave him a good one on his chest. Tsunade was sure to make her heal it tomorrow at work. Damn. She didn't want to touch him again. But, she would let him on her squad. She was almost positive that Tsunade knew she would let him on her squad. She had his mask back at her apartment, ready on her bedside table. It was the raven mask; a symbol of someone who had stealth, and could move without being caught. Sasuke had that. The mask was perfect for him. That mask had been sitting there for so long. She had just recently given up the sloth mask to Shika. That used to be sitting there with the raven. Along with the fox mask. Oh lord. She was thinking too much.

Just then, she slammed straight into someone. She looked up, ready to shout at whomever it was. But she stopped when she saw a familiar masked man. "Kakashi-sensei?" She asked. Her former sensei smiled, although it was concealed behind that damned mask.

"I'm not your sensei anymore Sakura, so I really don't understand why you still call me that." He said, a bit of teasing in his voice. She smiled up at him. He _was_ at least a head taller than her. Although, if she could remember right, Sasuke was even taller than that! Wait…why was she thinking of how tall Sasuke was? Wow, she is so weird.

Sakura blushed a bit, and scratched the back of her head with her right hand, while resting her left hand on her hip. Luckily, he couldn't see her blush or her smile with her cat mask on. That was on advantage of the dumb mask. Sakura lowered her arms by her side, and then repositioned them on her hips.

"What are you doing here sensei?" Sakura said, ignoring the fact that they really _were_ no longer in the sensei-student friendship. They were friends, but Kakashi respects her now, as an equal. She's just as powerful as him, and can even match up to him in a spar. He was one of her favorite sparring partners.

"Just strolling along, actually going to Kurenai's house." He said. Sakura swore that there was a blush under that mask. She grinned.

"Are you blushing Kakashi?" She accused him, pointing at his covered face. She knew of the romance going on between the two jounin, and almost laughed at the memory from when she first found out.

It was a while back, but she still remembered. She was walking in the cherry blossom grove, one of her favorite places. And she had heard a laugh, coming from behind a tree.

* * *

_Kakashi tickled the startled woman, making her back up into the tree. When her back hit the bark, she shoved his hands away. But, he caught them, and held her hands in his. He smiled down at her, his smile showing through his eyes. She smiled right back. She could read his every movement, and knew what was going to happen next. She prepared herself for it._

_Kakashi leaned down, and pulled his mask down enough so his lips and nose were visible. Kurenai was the only one who had ever seen him without his mask on, and would be the only one to see him without his mask on. _

_He laid his lips on hers in a brief, chaste kiss, tasting her crimson red lips. They tasted like cherries to him. He cherished the flavor for a few more seconds before pulling away, much to Kurenai's disappointment. She looked back up at him and saw love in his eyes. He drew his mask back up, and wrapped his arms around her protectively. She leaned into her lover's arms, smiling all the while. _

_Sakura backed away, having seen the entire thing. She was behind Kakashi, and didn't see his face, but saw what he did. She was, needless to say, proud of her sensei. He had been trying to make the move for SO long! She giggled a bit, and left._

Sakura looked at her sensei through the eye holes in her mask, and then turned to leave, waving goodbye. She giggled at him, knowing he knew she was there the entire time. He wasn't a jounin for nothing. He would have taken it further with Kurenai if she hadn't been there. But to protect her poor virgin eyes, he stopped.

Sakura continued on her way, and soon came to her apartment door. She entered her apartment, and yawned, in serious need of sleep. She had to work tomorrow. Shit.

* * *

Sakura woke up to her alarm clock blaring in her ear. She groaned and reached a hand out from her warm covers to turn it off. She slammed her hand on the top of it, and lazily looked at the blurry red symbols on the front of the clock. After a minute of staring at it, she could roughly make out 5:30am on the front of her alarm clock.

_Why am I getting up at 5am? Oh yeah…work. Great. Just great. _Sakura hauled herself out of bed, and walked towards her bathroom. She stripped of her nightgown, and climbed into the warm water of her shower running. She let the water pound on her body, slowly waking her up. She washed her hair, and shaved her legs. She turned the water off, and climbed out. She threw on some plain black jeans and a pink tank.

She decided to do something different with her hair for a change, and left it curly. She had only worn it curly to the hospital once, and she received many compliments on it. She decided to put it in the half up-half down style to keep it out of her face while working. She slipped on her white medic cloak that came to her knees, and tied the band around her waist, securing the mandatory piece of clothing that all medics wore.

As Sakura walked into the sliding front doors of the hospital that morning to sign in, she noticed something. There were many more girls around than usual, and all the girl medics had seemed to dress up a little bit more. And here she had been lazy. She secretly wondered what the special occasion was, and hoped that she wasn't dressed down too much.

The pink haired medic walked over and signed in, saying a small, tired hello to the clerk at the front desk. Before she went upstairs to see Tsunade, she thought she saw the girl give her an envious glare. She recalled that the woman had not given her the normal friendly hello, and instead got one almost as stoic and unemotional as…

Oh lord. Sasuke Uchiha. She had almost forgotten about him. She just _prayed_ that Tsunade wouldn't assign her the job of healing the wound she gave him. But she knew the woman better than anyone, and she was the only one allowed to be friendly with her. The hospital girls were envious of her for that reason.

Then it hit her, all the girls were there for that very reason. Sasuke. Crap…she didn't want to have to deal with this today! And she just _had_ to wear her hair curly today. Whenever she wore it curly, the guys would swoon, and the girls would glare. She _really_ didn't want to have to deal with this now. Great. She just knew Tsunade was going to make her heal the guy. She _was_ the one who injured him after all. Oh Lord. Oh Lord…help her.

* * *

"Sakura, we are very busy today, and I need you to heal the Uchiha boy. Word has gotten out that he's back, and that he's here. I need your help to restrain them from trying to sneak into his hospital room. He has been moved into a single, here is the room number. Go!" Tsunade said, scribbling the room number down and shoving her student down the hallway. Great. She was right. Tsunade scurried down the hallway, stopping to catch another fan girl heading towards the Uchiha's room. How did they know his room was down there anyways? Some thing will never be known.

Sakura sighed, and brushed a lock of pink hair behind her ear. She began to walk towards her doom…err…I mean uuh…the Uchiha's room. She made a few turns, some of the other medics assigned on the hallway giving her either envois glares, or sympathetic looks. She sighed once more before opening the hospital room 713.

The number on the door startled her for a moment. They almost had _meaning_ to them. She came from team 7 as a genin into the chunnin world. It had been one year since her parents had been murdered by the snake man, and 3 years since Sasuke had left. And now he was back. Yeah, the number on the door to Sasuke Uchiha's room had _meaning_. Dear God, she must be going crazy.

When she looked to the bed in the decent sized room, her emerald orbs met the onyx ones of Sasuke Uchiha. She stopped, clutching the clipboard she held in her right arm, and held the doorknob with her left hand. She gazed at his shocked eyes. Why was he shocked though? _Oh yeah, I decided to wear my hair curly today. He's never seen my hair curly. Crap. And I have to heal him. _She thought avidly. She sighed through her nose and shut the door behind her, unknowingly in the face of a prying medic girl. Oh well. She had too much plastic surgery on her nose anyways.

"You have naturally curly hair?" those were the first words out of the Uchiha's mouth to her. She raised an eyebrow at him as she set the clipboard on the bedside table. She smiled a fake smile at him, which she was sure he noticed, and nodded her head in a 'yes' motion.

"Yes Sasuke, I _do_ have naturally curly hair. Now shut up, and be quiet so I can heal you." She said grimly. Then she realized she had forgotten where the wound was. "Where is the wound again?" She asked in the same grim manner.

He smirked. "I thought you told me to shut up? It's on my upper leg. And it hurts. A lot. Since when have you grown so strong? I would like to know." He said; curiosity plain in his voice.

She almost laughed. She walked towards his lower body, trying to avoid any manly parts as much as possible. "Which leg? And I grew strong since my parents died. I trained under the wing of Tsunade, and became the best in the village. I never noticed the change in me though until not too long ago, when I became an ANBU. Oh, and what you saw at the spar, was not even a fourth of my true power." she said, very proud of that fact.

"I know. Tsunade told me. The left leg." He said in that sexy stoic voice she hated so much. Then again, she knew Tsunade would have told him. She moved to the left leg, and grabbed a pair of scissors from her medic cloak. She was about to cut his pants, but a hand on her wrist stopped her. "What?"

She asked the Uchiha. He glared at her. "What are you doing? Trying to rape me or something?" he asked, exasperated. Sakura didn't even blush. She gently pulled her hand out of his grasp, and held the scissors aloft in the air, ready in the cutting position.

"I have to cut the pants open in order to get to the wound and heal it. Are you going to let me? Or are you going to suffer from even more pain when I stab you repeatedly until you die?" She asked in an almost joking tone. But it wasn't. She was serious. That was the bad part about it; Sasuke couldn't back out of it.

He sighed and closed his eyes, thinking of the pain he could endure because of this woman. "Fine. Just don't rape me or anything." He said teasingly. She still didn't blush. She just went to work, cutting his trousers open all the way to his thigh. Now she may not be blushing, but the Uchiha was a completely different story.

Sasuke blushed redder than his favorite snack, a tomato. Luckily, Sakura was too engrossed in her work to notice. Lucky him. He watched as she cut his pants open, revealing his dark blue boxers. She simply lifted them up, and set the scissors down. She reached over with her hand, and positioned it over the gaping wound. Her hand glowed green with her healing chakra, and she laid her hand on the wound, but Sasuke only felt her cool, feminine hand on his burning skin. Stupid hormones.

Sakura paid attention to nothing else other than the wound she was healing. She didn't pay attention to how close the wound was positioned to anything, nor did she pay attention to the person she was healing. All she thought about was the sooner she got this done, the sooner she could get out of here.

Sasuke watched as his skin closed up right before his very own eyes. He knew Sakura had excelled in medical studies, but never suspected her to be this good. She paid attention only to the wound, and not the patient she was treating. He liked that about her, she was focused.

She was done in a matter of minutes. Both of them stared down at the flawless skin, Sasuke staring in awe, and Sakura staring in triumph. She had done her job, and now she wanted out. She walked to get her clip board, and heard a BANG! against the door. She paid no heed to it though, and continued with writing down the patient report. Then she heard another loud noise, this time against the window. She was curious, and walked to open it.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you!" She heard, coming from the suddenly slammed open door. She turned to see a stressed Tsunade, blocking the doorway. If you looked behind her, there were many screaming girls, all holding signs with declarations of love on them, and wishes to be impregnated. All for the Uchiha, who was now sitting up, and getting ready to get out of his bed. Sakura was, needless to say, bewildered. Utterly bewildered.

That shock changed from astonishment to anger in seconds. When the fan girls sensed her deadly aura, they scampered away like a stampede. Tsunade smirked at her student, she knew where that trick had come from. "Thank you Sakura. They are becoming unbearable, and you are the only one who they will not attack and claw open to get to that young man behind you. I need your help." Sundae said, out of breath.

Sakura turned around at the reference of 'young man behind you', and was in for a surprise when the Uchiha was mere centimeters away from her face. He smirked, and she blushed. This time, it was clearly visible. He stepped back a bit, seemingly satisfied.

"Sakura, I need you to escort Sasuke home. Better yet, take him to your house. He can live there for the time being. Like I have said, you are the only one whom cannot be harmed…" The rest of Tsunade's words were drowned out by a strange swirling sound in her ear.

Sasuke was going to _live_ with her?

* * *

i enjoyed writing this chapter. review if you want, but please do review on the next one. it's going to be SO friggin hilarious and fluffy it's not even funny! review!


	5. author's note important so read

I don't like the way I have been writing this story. So I'm going to delete it, and rewrite it. If u want to help me w/ ideas, great. Review and let me know. But I'll delete this in a few days, so yeah.

-cat


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